56 A TROPICAL DEPENDENCY his protection." It was to this court and to this man that Al Mutammed of Seville came in 1083 to ask for help against the Christians.

Yusuf is described as a " wise and shrewd man, neither too prompt in his determinations, nor too slow in carrying them into effect." He had passed the greater part of his life in his native deserts exposed to hunger and privation, and had no taste for a life of pleasure. It is expressly said of him that he did not speak Arabic. When, therefore, he consented to cross over to Spain, and in the course of time drove back the Christians and established once more a supreme Sultan upon the throne of Andalusia, his conquest and the dynasty which he founded must be regarded as an African conquest and an African dynasty. The Almoravides ruling in Spain were identically the same race as that which, moving from the West, imposed Islam on the races of Negroland, and established kingdoms, of which we shall presently hear, along the courses of the Niger and the Senegal.

It is stated that when Yusuf crossed to Spain there was no tribe of the western desert that was not represented in his army, and it was the first time that the people of Spain had ever seen camels used for the purpose of mounting cavalry. Forming part of the army which fought at Zalakah in 1086 there were also some thousands of blacks armed with Indian swords and short spears, and shields covered with hippopotamus hide. This battle drove the Christian forces out of southern Spain and laid the foundation of Yusuf's Spanish Empire. When, after fighting it, Yusuf marched to Seville, the comforts and luxury of that town, far from raising in his mind the admiration and astonishment that might have been expected, impressed him with very different sentiments. His councillors and courtiers pointed out to him the advantages which power conferred in a civilised country. " It strikes me," he replied, ''that this man (meaning the King of Seville) is throwing away the power which has been placed in his hands. Instead of giving his attention to